Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Spotify Reverses Policy On Artists Accused of Mistreating Women
Spotify reversed its policy on Friday about how it will address artists that are accused of harassment and violence against movement — a move that will clearly not make supporters of the Me Too movement happy.
According to NBC News, Spotify had recently implemented a policy around “hate content and conduct.” The policy was meant to ban artists who engaged in hate conduct from promoted playlists.
The streaming music company said it was “moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct” after receiving criticism from users for removing artists such as R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from its playlists.
“And while we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague, we created confusion and concern, and didn’t spend enough time getting input from our own team and key partners before sharing new guidelines,” Spotify said.
“We don’t aim to play judge and jury,” the company added.
While the company did not say whether it would put those particular artists music back on its playlists, it did say that it would still remove music filled with lyrics that incited “hate or violence” against specific groups, NBC News reports. However, it would not remove content that was “offensive, explicit or vulgar.”
Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America, has been extremely outspoken about the music industry taking action against artists who mistreat women, and said that claims of censorship completely miss the more pressing question of what the music industry is doing to eliminate this misconduct, NBC News reports.
“This is about sexually predatory behavior, and Spotify and everyone else in the industry knows it,” Rosen told NBC News. “Hiding behind a censorship claim is a disservice to the brave women who have come forward and spoken out despite the lack of support in a totally male-dominated business.”
You Can Now Watch Starbucks’ Racial Bias Training Video
Starbucks recently closed its doors on May 29th to conduct racial bias training after two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. In a statement, Starbucks said the racial bias training would “address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination, and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome.” And now, you can watch the eight-minute racial bias video that was shown to employees during the training.
According to Hello Giggles, the training video, made by documentarian Stanley Nelson, addresses the history of discrimination against African Americans, particularly when it comes to public spaces, and includes interviews from African Americans sharing their experiences with discrimination and racism.
The video also goes beyond just incidents at Starbucks locations, discussing issues regarding mistreatment of those of color in recent events in the news.
“It’s time we talk about what it means to not be welcomed as an American citizen,” Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of NAACP Legal Defense Fund says in the training video. Ifill was a senior consultant to Starbucks’ racial bias training, Hello Giggles reports.
“We just need to recognize that black people are navigating the public space differently than white people. That women are navigating the public space differently than men. And not use the shortcut that has been wired into your brain because of the society that we live in that tells you — when you see me — you should be nervous or you should be worried,” Ifill added.
While this video and one-day training will not remedy racism and discrimination alone, it’s a great conversation starter. Because things will only improve if we continue this dialogue and push for change.
This Cute Service Dog Made the Yearbook
A yellow Labrador named Linda, who is a service dog of a fifth-grade student named Rachel, is considered family at Orange City Elementary School in Florida.
Everyone at the school considers Linda to be such an integral part of their school family that they decided to include her in this year’s yearbook, ABC News reports.
“It was a great way to end the school year,” Principal Charlie Bynum told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“I couldn’t go without recognizing her. She’s a great dog.”
So on school picture day, the principal and Rachel’s mom, Heidi Watton, decided to have Linda’s picture taken, and the results are just about the most precious thing you will ever see.
Linda’s photo was featured in the school’s yearbook, and she received an award recognizing her three years of dedicated service at the elementary school, ABC News reports.
Bynum said Rachel has officially graduated to middle school, and so has Linda. We know Linda will continue to do great things at her new school.
What to look out for…
Graphic artist Matthew Burt reimagined the Disney princesses as strong and powerful career women, and it’s definitely giving me some major career inspo. (My personal favorite is Princess Jasmine who is now a U.N. Ambassador!)